Russische Impressionen – Thal und Bärnbach

Thal und Bärnbach

Teil 4 – Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte

Russische Impressionen aus der Steiermark von Sveta und Nastya:
Jeder ihrer Beiträge ist eine Hommage an die Steiermark aus der Sicht einer mit allen Sinnen erfassenden Russin.

Thal und Bärnbach [Russian]

Original English Translation by Nastya

Report on trip to Austria, part 2

7-th day. The Church Ernst Fuchs
The Church Of Hundertwasser
Glass manufactory in Burbage.
By the way, this tank is in the center moved in my collection of vases.
The Eggenberg Palace.

I’m planning a separate posts about all the above.
The weather that day was disgusting. The temperature dropped, the rain periodically began to pour in buckets. I tried on the way to remove fields with pumpkins, – Styria is famous for the production of pumpkin oil, pumpkin grow here everywhere, and the fields look very cheerful – but the rain muddied glass. And nothing but a light orange stain outside the window of the car, did not work.

Traudl very tired that day. Winding road, lots of tunnels, heavy rain. Of the morning news the next day revealed that in some places in Styria, even the snow fell, and the roads there were many accidents, including and with sad outcomes.
Therefore, the following,
8-day was a day of rest. We did not travel outside of Mürzzuschlag. We just walked around the town, visited the Museum of Brahms, ran to the shops. In the evening we received a gift from Traudl on the excellent bottle of pumpkin seed oil!

9-th day. In the morning we said goodbye to the nice Mürzzuschlag and sailed back to Vienna, where the first thing rushed to KHM to watch Brueghel.
Well, of course, not only Brueghel. A lot of things, and other interesting. After KHM, I fulfilled a mother’s duty and led my child to the Technical Museum.

I was found very interesting:
Once, in a past life, the subject of my dissertation included the prosthetics of the lower extremities. There were many interesting things on this topic in the Museum

We took to the Museum’s closing time and, frankly, not enough…

Nastya, instead of the Museum, went to Albertina. In her heart, knocked “the ashes of Klaas» the hare of Durer.
She saw the hare and the impressionists, and was perfectly happy. In this good mood she went to visit Tanya, where they watched a film about the theme of the Impressionists.
Stas and I went in search of Gazometro, and 20 hours had Daytona the Museum of sounds ( House music). On the advice of Traudl got off at the station and drove to the station on. But gone, apparently, in the wrong direction, went long and circles ))).

On the road:

The long-awaited gasometry..
So, gasometry we won!
It’s time to the Museum sounds. In the subway we got off at the right stop, and then we could not navigate. “House music?, – happily asked the tourist-Spanish – follow for us!” And we boys ran after the Spaniards. This house fled to a crowd!)
and the house was not the same…To “our” house we came at 8 PM and 15 minutes later. And time for the examination of a large heap of interactive exhibits seemed to us too little.

10th, the last day. Stas was in a deep sleep, Nastya and I went to the flea market, which operates exclusively on Saturdays ( the other days they sell food and stuff). The Vienna market called the Naschmarkt. In someone else’s story I read that a very appropriate name, because this “Markt” clearly “ours.” Fully confirm, – the number of Russian merchants “was through the roof» ). The market is located a pair of kilometers in length.

Nastya said it’s no good idea without a purpose to wander around the market, it is necessary to determine their desires. I wanted a little vase, a little doll and something for my soul ))). Nastya – wanted to find vintage jewelry and one definite book. From the market she left a few sad, because nothing found. However, she did not know which moral compensation is waiting for her in the evening. My program was 100% complete. Now I am the happy owner of three subjects about which I know nothing, but they like me by the way, if among you there are experts and will tell anything. Unlikely, of course, but suddenly…

So it will be placed. The vase ))) Rather, a bottle of perfume. Judging by the picture, refers to the modern era. Similar analogues in the Internet is not
found. But they found exactly the same cover, which, oddly enough, do not refer to modernism and to him the preceding Victorian era. I admit that the cap may not be native. Although the size is suitable. Best of all, from the cap and from the bottle, still exudes a slightly noticeable subtle perfume “Bouquet de Nice” ) now Dolly.

Originally wanted another. But that was sold only in pair with the boy in national costume. Not mine… I sighed, rummaged in the box and pulled out the tucked under the larger and more prominent of the beauties of this one:
She got me hooked. Probably a bow ))) Doll celluloid, sold as pre-war. I am not an expert, so I asked about its origin in the community on Facebook. Replied that the products of the factory “Minerva”. Maybe post-war, and maybe pre-war ))) And then my post deleted. Mess ))) Because a bunch of questions I was left with ) the information found in this factory: closed in 1955, the mark besides the word Germany starting from 1933 there was an inscription of Minerva. From what I have it isn’t there, a doll made earlier in 1933. I am silent, I see her all the same style ))) But there was a bunch of “but”: all the little dolls Minerva, whose photos have found have molded hair, my doll had real hair. And a stamp in the upper right part of the same (like a helmet), but all that’s left under this hat, unlike. However, in that Minerva joined a few other, smaller factories. Possible that done on one of them. But with a year to decide and failed. I want to determine at least a decade )))And the third thing ) Which for the soul ))) I don’t even know what it is ) as condition things is bad. But I fell in love with her at first sight ))) My little hands reached out to her, unable to break away ) the Salesman said that this Bedemier. Somehow trusted him right away ).

At first I thought it was a handbag. And in form it resembles, and flanked by two decent holes, as if a pen from her threw up. But after scrolling through books on fashion history, I started to doubt. All handbags of this period in the books of cloth knitted or made of a metal mesh, and leather that is not visible in the book. Maybe it’s not the bag, and some road four wheel accessory? I asked the expert on the history of costume. She said she’ll think about it. But it is silent, she is silent as the guerrilla on interrogation. Already I do not expect an answer.Well, okay, it’s time for us to leave the “flea market” ))) and return to the apartment to pick up my son ))). Secession was on the way.And anyway, this whole quarter of solid art Nuovo. Art Nouveau, as they call it here.
All together with Stas go to the House of the Sea. Price hoo! Well, there are some interesting… Although the St. Petersburg aquarium is much better. And the price is lower. Nastya it was not yet, because the House of the sea her unconditionally love.

What is good in the House of the sea is the viewing platform.In Schönbrunn with its palace, zoo and other delights son refused to go, early in the morning by choosing a replacement – the House of the sea. “No luck in cards, lucky in love…”, I mean so lucky in the morning on “the flea” because it is foolish to think that the rest of the day will also carry. Really, the second Museum today son chose MUMOK (Museum of modern art). Well, I did not like…

By seven PM we were home. Packed up for departure, waited, Traudl, which, like a the good kind fairy, came to us with gifts. And, most surprisingly, Nastya received the gift of the book with watercolor paintings, a book which dreamed! With a bottle of sunny spanish “Rioja”, Traudl told us absolutely incredible story of finding this book. So, miracles do happen and dreams come true. Especially when the good wizards try your hand )))
And wait for stories about the individual, only indicated here, landmarks )))

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Russische Impressionen – More Admont

Mehr von Admont – Bibliothek, Museum und Park

Teil 3 – Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte

Russische Impressionen aus der Steiermark von Sveta und Nastya:
Jeder ihrer Beiträge ist eine Hommage an die Steiermark aus der Sicht einer mit allen Sinnen erfassenden Russin.

Admont Bibliothek [Russian]

Original English Translation by Nastya

The monasteries have always been not only a religious place but also a place of learning. Admont fully cared about the education of local children and youth. The monastery has  three museums.

The first of them is the Museum of natural history.

Just it is a classic. It is very small. I t is just a baby compared to our Petersburg Zoological Museum. But the collection is wonderful.

Nastya really liked the shelves with minerals…

…and I with birds

The colors are most unusual.

The ladies deer are horned too )))

The monks a little joked  in this Museum. This lion roars loudly when someone is  approaching to the exhibits.

After a devastating fire in 1865  the monastery and museum was restored. The Father Gabriel Strobl (1866-1910) devoted to the museum 44 years of his life. He devoted  himself to the botany  12 years and the following 32 years – entomology. He created a collection of 252000 instances of insects. Almost everything that we now see in the Museum is the work of Strobl. What he could not himself produce in his expeditions he is exchanged or bought. Еру сcollection of Strobl it’s something!!!

In one of the rooms has 243 varieties of Styrian apples. All made of wax by his father Constantine Kepler ((1778-1864). Some varieties of the now non-existent.

In General, the Museum is very worthy.

In one of the rooms have 243 varieties of apples from Styria. It is made of wax by his father Constantine Kepler ((1778-1864). Some varieties of apples are no more. In general this museum is very worthy.

Another museum is the Kunsthistorisches Museum. It presents the exhibits from the Romanesque period to the Rococo.  It is the paintings, sculptures, textiles.

The most valuable exhibits are the embroidery made by famous master Brother Benno Haan (1631-1720).

The view from the stairs at the glass transition from floor to floor.

The third museum is the museum of Modern Art. I understand that his exposition periodically updated. Here the authors are well frolicked. I like that most of the work has humor  in contrast the works in Vienna’s MUMOK. Here is an example of the use of spoons-forks not for its intended purpose.

The elegant chandelier made of plastic bottles.

I stumbled in the hallway on the currently fashionable artist Gironcoli.

And he was also spotted in the yard.

I can’t say that his work has impressed me. I retarded person.

And the area around the monastery is also quite good. There are a lot of flowers.

I liked the floral arrangements with the bricks in the windows of the flower shop

Here I asked   Stas to take a photo of me : Useless! Either he couldn’t fit the view in the frame, or does not fit the head or all remaining  body parts!

And it is a wonderful place to explore the local pond. You can see water lilies, ducks, swans, beautiful views of the mountains and the monastery. It is a very beautiful place.

From the monastery went to the nearby castle Strechau. The castle is the second largest in Styria. Inside should be an interesting museum.

But the first time we didn’t find the way and we had to go to the track countless kilometers. In general, when we arrived, the castle gates  had been already closed.

The castle is in private ownership. And it closes at 15:00.

With the lock connected a very old legend about an unfaithful lover.

The young girl took her lover to a crusade… And promised the knight that he would remain faithful to him to the grave. But if he does not return from a crusade, she will go to the monastery. Some time passed and she forgot about her promise. She said yes matchmaking to her grandee. They arranged a big wedding. But at the wedding feast with her there was a terrible metamorphosis: her delicate features distorted by a terrible grimace. Instead of the beautiful face  the stunned guests saw the skull. The ground opened under the feet of the unhappy and the demons dragged her to the hell…

The painting by an unknown artist Burgfräulein von Strechau hangs in the museum of Admont. And we made a little picnic on a bench in front of the castle. And we went  home…”

Wishing all the best, Nastya 🍁🍃🌞

Russische Impressionen – Admont

Admont

Teil 2 – Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte

Russische Impressionen aus der Steiermark von Sveta und Nastya:
Jeder ihrer Beiträge ist eine Hommage an die Steiermark aus der Sicht einer mit allen Sinnen erfassenden Russin.

Wir starten in Admont

Admont [Russian]

Original English Translation by Nastya

I found by chance, this place is in Austria, when I examined in the internet map of Styria (clicking on all the pictures in a row). This place is in the boonies, it far from any major cities. After seeing the picture, I opened my mouth in amazement. What appeared before my eyes? It was a monastery library.

… And here, Traudl invited us into her car. Outside the window began to flash (flickersed) the beautiful views.In the immediate vicinity there is the national Park Gesäuse. So, if someone wants to spend their holiday actively, and in beautiful place, let has in mind this place is a Park and monastery, and a castle nearby.Two hours later we arrived at the scene.The monastery is situated in extensive grounds in the valley. And surround the monastery on all sides of the mountain, half of which are more than two kilometers tall.

We were lucky. The day was Sunday, in the courtyard of the monastery turned fair. There were local products, drinks, Souvenirs. Festivities were in full swing, many people were in national costumes.Generally things of juniper were many, but all very expensive.
People in the courtyard of a cultural rest, slowly drank the drinks of varying strength and listened to the orchestra.The orchestra itself is also not to offend. Even the nuns are allowed a little aperitif)

A General impression that in Austria everything and always in a good mood. ))) The monastery in Admont has a very venerable age.We staring on the bright bushes, and almost missed the point in this photograph – St. Emma. But it all started!But thank God for Nastya, who photographed the text on the green board.Judging by the headdress, inside the Church is also St.Emma.

Emma was born in 980. She was married Wilhelm of Friesach-Sanngau. She gave birth to two sons and lived happily and richly until murder her sons during the uprising. Their father is brutally murdered with a rebellious people after went to Rome to atone for sins. But the way he died. Emma was left alone. She spent all the wealth on charity, investing in the foundation of monasteries. Here it was founded the monastery of Admont, but 30 years after her death. Emma was beatified in 1287, and was canonized in 1938.

I admire Emmas headpiece )))

Photo from here

The information about St. Emma from the same and from the story of Olga

The land and the money was from Emma, but the real founder was Gebhard (1010 – 1088), Archbishop of Salzburg

In 1074 the monks Benedictines arrived here of the parish of St. Peter in Salzburg. In 1120 there appeared a women’s monastery of the Benedictine order. In 1644 he founded the school at the monastery. And besides, in the 17th century, the school of embroidery, led by brother Benno Haan. In 1735 under the direction of architect Gotthard Hayberger it began rebuilding in the Baroque style, which was continued by Joseph Hueber.

Please note that the picture of 1839 the monastery looks somewhat different than it is now. The head of the Church crowned with onions. (This and the next two pictures are from the site of the monastery. Information from the same place)http://www.stiftadmont.at/en/

But in 1865 a fire destroyed almost the whole monastery, with the exception of the library.

In the following years after the fire the monastery was built again. In the 1930-ies of the monks provided their living by selling works of art. In 1939 the Nazis expropriated the monastery and in 1945 the monks returned here.
Currently the Abbey is a spiritual, cultural and economic center of international fame. In his charge are 26 parishes, nursing home and a middle school with 700 students. In all of these schools employs approximately 500 people. In the monastery the monks 26. From 1 August 1996 the dean of monastery is Bruno Hübl. His motto, “Ex caritate confidens de adiutorio Dei” –

mercy, relying on God’s help.

So the monastery looks from the height of bird flight

The collegiate Basilica dedicated to St. Blaise.

The founder Gebhard was buried in the chancel.
Quite by accident I found on the internet the information that in a monastery in 1094 he died one of the daughters of Yaroslav the Wise – Anastasia Yaroslavna. She was the wife of the king of Hungary András I. The name of the Admont monastery (and in older sources – Almond). This daughter of the Russian Tsar Yaroslav. Anastasia died not later than 1094, as in this year she was mentioned as deceased. According to legend, she died in the Admont monastery or Almond that in Styria. Anastasia is second from the left in the mural.
Through the Admont is the pilgrimage way of St. Emma. The way out in the southern part of Austria, then to Slovenia. Stretches 187 km elevation Changes are significant.http://www.outdooractive.com/de/pilgerweg/alpenregion..

You can see the pilgrims on pictures.

It’s late and we go to the museums part of the Abbey.
We looked interesting multimedia show About the monastery and the order of Benedictines.
The library is the main treasure of the monastery.
Before entering the library are copies of medieval manuscripts. They are beautiful in the extreme.

Russische Impressionen aus der Steiermark

Eine ungewöhnliche Geschichte über die Steiermark und St. Petersburg

Auf dem Camino del Norte in Spanien haben Karin und ich zwei Wanderinnen getroffen, sind einige Tage zusammen gewandert und haben uns in Spanisch und Englisch sehr unterhaltsam verständigt.

Sveta und Nastya sind in St. Petersburg zu Hause, unsere Muttersprachen Russisch und Deutsch konnten wir nicht verwenden. Besonders ein Erlebnis mit einem aus seiner Weide ausgebrochenen Jungstier, der den Städterinnen sehr gefährlich erschien, hat sich in unserer Erinnerung bewahrt. Der glückliche Ausgang dieses Abenteuers hat mehr mit Händen und Füßen als mit Worten seinen Abschluss gefunden. Wie oft auf Wanderungen haben wir unsere Emails ausgetauscht und unsere Wege haben sich getrennt. Karin und ich hatten unser Ziel erreicht. Sveta und Nastya sind bis Santiage de Compostela weiter gewandert.

Nach einiger Zeit haben wir Fotos ausgetauscht und sind in loser Verbindung geblieben. Im Sommer 2014 traf ich Sveta und Nastya in St. Petersburg wieder. Unsere Verständigung war noch ein wenig spannender, denn Karins Spanisch hat gefehlt (ich war mit einer anderen Gruppe unterwegs). Eine russische Freundin der beiden, die auf Heimaturlaub aus Australien in St. Petersburg war, übernahm die Übersetzungsarbeit. Wir hatten wieder viel Spass und haben uns einen Nachmittag lang köstlich unterhalten. Ich dachte an eine Einladung der beiden nach Oesterreich.

Diesen August 2016 kamen die beiden mit Svetas Sohn Stanislaw nach Wien und dann nach Mürzzuschlag, wo ich wohne. Sveta hatte in ihrer Vorbereitung ein umfangreiches Programm erstellt mit allen Orten und Sehenswürdigkeiten, die sie gerne sehen wollten. Nastya hatte in der Zwischenzeit ihre Englischkenntnisse in Kursen erweitert. So wagte ich mich in das Abenteuer. Zuerst erfolgte ein Wiedersehen mit Karin, ein von ihr liebevoll zubereitetes vorzügliches Essen und das Auffrischen von Erinnerungen in Klosterneuburg.

Nach dieser doch etwas längeren Vorgeschichte komme ich zum eigentlichen Anlass meines Artikels.

Sveta hat Eindrücke von unseren Ausflügen in der Steiermark festgehalten und in mehreren Postings online gestellt. Jeder dieser Beiträge ist eine Hommage an die Steiermark aus der Sicht einer mit allen Sinnen erfassenden Russin.

Grüner See [Russian]

Noch mal Grüner See [Russian]

Original English Translation by Nastya

“Austria is amazingly beautiful country! And we have not been to the mountainous parts of it. The trip was limited to Styria and Vienna.

In Austria every step of the castles…

…and interesting museums.

But the main wealth of Austria is people. Wonderful, kind, hardworking, very cheerful and very musical.

And the best of the Austrians to us, of course, Traudl, thanks to her  took place on this trip! If you knew what a fairy she was! Thank you, dear!!! May God grant you health, luck and fulfillment of wishes!

And where you can meet such great people as Traudl? Of course, on the Camino ))) There they go in the a crowd of people  (droves)    ))).

There we met with Karin. And a huge thank you to her that during their brief stay in Austria, she found the time to meet with us!

But sitting still wasn’t done. Lives in Vienna one infinitely dear to us – Tanya Gurin gmarta . And thank you, Tanya, for the meeting and gifts!

1 day. Vienna. 1 day. Vienna. The center of the city we toured on the tram on the ring (and then walked )

Hundertwasser house + village Hundertwasser

Church St.Othmar

The Hundertwassers Museum

Waste-to-energy plant project of Hundertwasser saw a glimpse, passing by in the subway.

By 12 o’clock, we rushed to the famous Ankeruhr clock. We could not find them and upset that it was late because it was already the first hour. But it turned out that the clock is well behind! Finding them, we still waited for 10-15 minutes, when the passage of the shapes.)))

Then we looked in the oldest Church Ruprecht

And in the Greek Church

And to the “dear Augustine”

We went to dinner in “Figlmueller”, where the reviews online was a endless wieners schnitzel and democratic prices.

I asked the waiter for ice water. He replied that alas… no. Then I tried to joke and asked for some ice without  water. The waiter laughed. But 10 minutes later he brought me a glass of ice without water” ))). Phew, what a joy it was, considering that on the street the day was muggy and hot.

After dinner we walked to the Cathedral of St. Stephen, on Stephanplatz and the district.

Then we bought a family combo-ticket “Treasury of the Hofburg + KNM”, but two museums on this day did not happen because of the intolerable stuffiness in the Treasury. With tenderness and nostalgia were reminded of our well air-conditioned and well-lit Museum space. There is almost total absence of light and air. By the way, Traudl was interested that Austria seemed to us better or worse than us. Well, “best” in Austria are endless ))), but a distinct disadvantage in Austria, we noticed bad transport links between settlements and very bad air conditioning.. In all museums it was hot and stuffy.

The day ended with a meeting with Tanya, who, as it turned out, lived just a 10 minute walk from our place.

2nd day. It was in the Kreuzensteins castle and Klosterneuburg. Where we met Karin. with Karin. About this day will be a separate post. And, most likely, two posts. )

The evening of the same day to the sound of rain we drink in small sips a cherry liqueur with Tanya )

3rd day. Early morning we moved from Vienna to Mürzzuschlag. Scenic area Simmeringly railway, included in the UNESCO list, among other things.

We located in the house of Traudl, surveyed the area, settled down in the car and went to the lake Grüner See and spent the day. About the lake there will be a separate post.

The 4th day was held in the Abbey of Admont. About it will a separate post. On the way back wanted to get to the castle Strihou, but not the first time I got onto the right road and came straight after its closure. We looked at the locked gate, had a little picnic but went home.

5-th day. The pilgrimage to Mariazell.

6-th day. Neuberg an der Mürz. Abbey glass manufacture. And pseudo-Hundertwasser ))) “

 

Wie war es in Japan?

Gespräch mit Nicole Mühlemann, Shen Dao Praxis

Es war schön. Jetzt bin ich wieder da.

Das ist eine akzeptable Antwort auf meine Frage.

Für viele Leute.

Ich will es genauer wissen.

Was hast du erlebt?
Welche Situationen sind dir in Erinnerung geblieben?
Welche Gefühle haben dich begleitet?

Ich möchte über die Erlebnisse hören, die die Bilder wieder kehren lassen.

“Ich hatte ein wunderschönes Erlebnis gleich auf dem Weg zum Hotel. Gerade angekommen machte ich mich auf den Weg zu meiner Unterkunft. Das riesige Zug und U-Bahn System in Tokyo lag vor mir, und ich war nicht sicher, ob mich die gewählte U-Bahn tatsächlich zur gewünschten Station bringt.  Ich sah eine junge Japanerin und entschied, sie um Hilfe zu fragen. Sie war sich auch nicht sicher und wir stiegen gemeinsam aus dem Zug aus. Sie fragte den Stationsmeister (in Japan gibt es so jemanden in jeder Station). Der bestätigte. Wir konnten wieder in denselben Zug einsteigen. Ich war so verwundert, dass jemand sich die Zeit nimmt, von seinem Weg abzugehen und einem anderen völlig unbekannten Menschen zu helfen. Eine Seltenheit, die mich in Japan persönlich willkommen geheissen hat.”

Ich lächle und nicke. Das ist auch mein Japan.. Ich erinnere mich auch an so eine ähnliche aussergewöhnliche Situation. Das ist sehr schön.

Und wie war dein Kurs? Was hast du mitgenommen?

“Eigentlich nichts Neues”

meint Nicole zuerst laut denkend, setzt dann nachdrücklich fort …

°Wir sind in die Tiefe gegangen. Ich habe am Beispiel der japanischen Meistern gesehen, wie man mit gebündelter Energie noch tiefer gehen kann. Das Resultat ist eine verstärkte Wirkung.”

Das klingt sehr kraftvoll. Deine Behandlungen waren bisher schon sehr erfolgreich, sodass viele deiner Patienten nicht mehr gekommen sind, weil sie nach deiner Behandlung beschwerdelos waren.

Ich wünsche mir, dass der Weg zu dir von vielen gefunden wird.

Danke für deine Gedanken.

 

LINKS

Shen Dao Praxis

 

A dangerous journey

… that could kill the racist in all of us …

Every time I watch this video that came my way through my social media channels – I get chills. For some reason I have to watch it again and again.

I decided that I want to share this video with my course group from the

INNES Summer School
Intercultural Competence and Effective Professional Communication in Globalized Societies

and we watched this video together on the day we spoke about conflicts, their cause and how to manage them.

• We think that everyone should watch this … .
• We fully agree with the girl saying that this should be compulsory for everyone – we all want to do this DNA test.
• Lets share this with everyone we know and change our way to look at the world.

Thanks to the creators of this initiative – join the movement!

HOW?

We only have one world, but it’s divided. We tend to think that there are more things dividing us than uniting us – Lets open our world

A dangerous journey that could kill the racist in us

 

INNES Summer School 2016

… started on 11.7.2016 in Vienna.

I started the journey into Intercultural Competence and Effective Professional Communication in Globalized Societies with a group of students from Morocco, Singapore, Thailand, Hungary and Nepal.

We are speaking about communication, culture and how communication changes when using of technology. Experimenting with online collaboration and meeting tools will be part of our agenda. I am also looking forward to a fruitful discussion with invited experts introducing themselves and their experiences in our context.

After this 2 weeks of working together, we will not only have found new friends from different background, but opened the door into how effective communication in our personal and professional lives looks like for a personal perspective.

Follow

Innes Vienna Summer School 2016 on Facebook

Innes Vienna on Facebook

LINKS

Innes Vienna

Innes Vienna Summer Schools

The universal language

The key of sharing and collaborating on ideas is of course communication. And for communication not to lead to misunderstandings the same set of rules and values is important, which in a simple way can be just the language. As I am writing this blog entry in English it is obvious that I did so, because it will be understood by a wide range of people. It is not my first language and after years of using English and even being able to have serious conversations using it, I still feel that there are certain things I will never be able to express as I wanted to. The other way around, I feel more comfortable talking e.g. about Design Thinking in English, because I learned and worked with it solely in English.

I had the opportunity to spend some time in South America this year. This was something new and challenging to me. I’ve been to Asia quite a lot, but South America has an totally different, interesting cultural context and I had fun exploring it. One of the things I noticed quite soon was that although a lot of people spoke English, a lot of people did not. This is the same in a lot of Asian countries, but in contrast to Asia, it is not perceived as a lack, if you do not speak English. It was even the other way around that I felt I did not make enough effort to communicate in Spanish! I had plenty of situations when even amongst travellers the common language was not English but Spanish and I had a hard time keeping up, because my Spanish is beginner’s level at best.

It was kind of an eye opener to me. Until now I somehow expected everyone everywhere to speak English. It might have been a bit arrogant of me to expect that, because besides English there are other languages such as Spanish and Chinese that is spoken by a large number of people. I do not want to imply that we should all switch to a different language, but just looking at the development, we might have to think about other languages than English. Who knows what will happen in a few years if you look at the development of the Spanish speaking population in the United States, which is constantly growing. Or the great amount of Chinese speaking population on earth. This is an appeal for being open minded to other languages than English and making an effort learning Portuguese, German, French, Japanese, you name it. Do not automatically expect others to speak English, but agree on a language that is most comfortable for all.

P.S.: I had the most fun conversation with a Belgian guy, who did not speak English, but Spanish and French. I speak neither Spanish nor French, but English and still, we somehow talked about all kinds of things. We agreed on a mix of Spanish with English and a few words of French and voilà, we were having a great time talking

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CONVERSATIONS

Exchange of thought with a Creativity Engineering Summer School participant at the Vienna University of Technology

Participant from China:

I think it’s something about personal style. Everyone has different talking and thinking style. There is nothing wrong, but you may be uncomfortable when you feel that someone says almost everything against you.
But at last we reached the common point by fully communication.
I just don’t like that, when I raise a creative idea, someone always put the black hat and try to deny it. If I can choose, I would like to work with someone who is more positive and optimistic.

Course coach:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I can fully understand what you mean.
I also prefer to work with positive people rather than people who are negative and try to stop everything new from happening.
I have similar experiences in some of my projects as you.

Then I received the recommendation to see negative comments as a constructive input improving my idea.
Usually negative comments are not negative comment against you as a person.
To understand this it is always recommended to look at the cultural setting a discussion happens in:
In Western culture a discussion is focused on the idea and not the person. They comment on your idea. Actually it is quite good if an idea is commented a lot, in a positive or negative way. It means that it created thought in other people.

If this is different in your own culture, it would be worth trying to convince yourself that a negative comment for an idea you raised is not about you but only about the idea. Then you don’t feel hurt and you can argue easily for your idea and proof that the comment raised is not applicable or taken into account.

I hope that my explanation was understandable and meaningful to you. Let me know if you have questions or more thoughts about this.

Thanks again – it is nice to share experiences and thoughts.

My Austrian experience

OFF TO A NEW PLACE

I traveled to Vienna, Austria in July, 2012 with a heavy heart and with a purpose that seemed more important to me than continuing my job in my home land.
I was sent to coordinate a project that my company executed for an Austrian company. My company had booked my accommodation and I was living in a hotel close to the new office.

The day I arrived in Vienna, it was a dull day with grey clouds and rain. It seemed that they were representative of my life at that point in time and it will remain this grey for the rest of my time in Vienna. The hotel staff hardly spoke any English and apparently, I did not know a single word of German. But, they spoke to me in English with a unique accent and since I have had experience of interacting with people from different nations before, I could manage to understand their part of conversation. But, when it came to my turn to speak in English, the hotel staff would look at me disgusted as if I have just lost my way from the planet Mars and accidentally landed in front of their hotel and requesting them for directions to my planet again. My English is actually not that bad and the very purpose why my company sent me as a coordinator is that I had good communications skills.  The hotel staff was often rude except for one employee, who was the only relief for me in that place. The fact that the receptionist offered me cold water when I complained about the hot weather in July must tell you something about their hospitality. I at least deserved a fan for the 90 Euros I paid daily for the entire month. More about my stay, later.

The first day I entered the office in Vienna, I was greeted well by the manager and was waiting for the engineer with whom I would have to work daily for the project. He arrived at about 9

When, I arrived there were no colleagues whom I recognize in the new office. I did not have any friends that I knew in Vienna at that time. I was all on my own.

to be continued …

Sprache eröffnet eine eigene Welt

Judith Brandner stellte heute in einem Vortrag an der Nagoya City University einige Autoren vor, die Deutsch nicht von Geburt an ihre Muttersprache nannten. Die vier vorgestellten Beitrage über Sina Tahayori, Zwetelina Damjanova-Ortega, Michael Stavaric und Sohn Young stammen aus der Ö1-Radiokolleg Serie “Andernworts – Deutsch schreiben – mehrsprachig denken” und waren sehr interessant und eindrucksvoll. Eine bedeutende Rolle in der Entwicklung dieser völlig unterschiedlichen Persönlichkeiten und deren Werken spielte und spielt Christa Stippinger mit dem Zentrum Exil und dem Exil-literaturpreis „schreiben zwischen den kulturen“.

Was ich als Gemeinsamkeit sehe, ist die Erfahrung, dass jede Sprache eine neue Welt mit sich bringt. Dies ist meine Erfahrung aus dem Sprachunterricht an japanischen Universitäten. Jede Sprache verbirgt in sich eine Art des Denkens und Kommunizierens, die die Gesellschaft und deren Werte und Traditionen in gewisser Weise abbildet. Sprache ist mehr als nur Sprache. Sprache ist Verpackung für Kultur.

Wenn man eine neue Sprache lernt, muss man in diese Kultur eintauchen und am besten selbst erleben, wie Menschen aus diesem Sprachkreis miteinander kommunizieren. Man muss die kulturellen Hintergründe verstehen lernen. Je weiter die Kultur der neuen Sprache von seiner eigenen Muttersprache entfernt ist, umso schwieriger ist dies.

↑↑↑ Deutsch ↑↑↑ ↓↓↓ English ↓↓↓

Today Judith Brandner introduced four authors at the Nagoya City University who did not name German as their mother tongue all their life. The short reports about Sina Tahayori, Zwetelina Damjanova-Ortega, Michael Stavaric and Sohn Young are from a radio series called “Elsewhere – writing in German – thinking multilingual” and were very interesting and impressive. Christa Stippinger with Zentrum Exil and her literature award „Writing between cultures“ played and plays an important role in the development of those four unique personalities and their works.

What connects them is the experience that each language opens up a new world. This is also my experience from teaching language classes in several Japanese universities. Each language encompasses a specific form of thinking and communicating that mirrors society, its values and traditions in certain ways. Language is more than language. Language is a packaging for culture.

If you learn a new language you have to experience the culture of the language region and at best personally interact with people living there. You have to understand the cultural background of a language. The further away the new language is from your own origin, the harder this can turn out to be.

Links
www.zentrumexil.at
Nachhören unter www.judithbrandner.at

Unsere Krisen? – nach welchen Werten handelt der Einzelne allein und in Gesellschaft …

Die Werte, nach denen wir unsere Handlungen ausrichten, verändern sich heute in Echtzeit und darüberhinaus sind sie über politische Räume nicht einheitlich, manchmal selbst in benachbarten Regionen nicht einmal ähnlich. Die Werthaltung von Nachbarländern in Europa können voneinander abweichen, auch diametral entgegen liegen. Ein weiteres Phänomen kann jeder selbst bei sich beobachten: Wir handeln alleine anders als in Gruppen oder in größeren Gesellschaften. Warum tun wir das?

Die Mechanismen sind wahrscheinlich so individuell wie es Menschen auf der Erde gibt, obwohl sie historische Wurzeln haben. Es wäre gut sich über seine eigenen Entscheidungen alleine und in Gesellschaft klar zu werden. Die Unterschiede geben Auskunft über die eigene Herkunft und eben jene Werte, nach denen man seine eigenen Entscheidungen ausrichtet. Sich selbst bewusst in dieser Dialektik zu erfahren bringt uns einen Schritt näher, das zu verstehen, was wir zur Bewältigung der unzähligen Krisen verstehen sollten. Denn es sieht so aus, als dass sich im Großen jene Dialektik reproduziert, die in uns allen steckt.

Kultur am Teller – FOLGE 1

Am 28.11.2009 fand die Folge 1 von Kultur am Teller statt: Ein cross-over aus kreolischer, indischer und österreichischer Küche erfreute eine kleine Gruppe von ungefähr 50 Menschen bei einem Zusammentreffen am Bärenkogel in der Steiermark.

Die Initiative steht unter dem Motto: Kennenlernen von Kulturen über den Gaumen und ohne Sprachbarrieren. Eine gewählte Menüfolge mit entsprechender Weinauswahl erfreute die bunt zusammengewürfelte Schar von Freunden und führte zu anregenden Gesprächen über “Gott und die Welt”.

Zum Start begrüßten wir diesmal nur geladene Gäste.

Initiative und Ideenanstoss Dipl. Ing. Klaus Jerlich
Bei Interesse an Ideen, die wachsen, schicken Sie uns einfach eine Email.